This Summer I'm Choosing to Bloom Where I'm Planted | Ep. 82

Life moves in cycles of growth, transition, and renewal - sometimes all at once. After a few weeks of replays, I'm back with a candid conversation about the changes unfolding in my life and what they mean for both me and this podcast. Let's catch up, shall we!?

Theme Music:
She No Dull Beat by Nana Kwabena
Festivities in Belize by RAGE Productions

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome and Personal Check-in
• 4:06 Home Changes and Environmental Impact
• 7:46 Summer Plans and Personal Growth
• 10:26 Book Writing and Relationship Reflections
• 13:20 Podcast Schedule Changes
• 16:57 Show Updates and Listener Connection
• 21:09 Closing Thoughts and Next Steps

Transcript

Aliya Cheyanne: 1:21

Hey friend, welcome back to the show. How have you been? I feel like it's been a minute since we last touched base. We had a few weeks of replays there. Today's episode is going to be a solo audio only episode, and then we have some brand new episodes coming up.

Aliya Cheyanne: 1:44

I hope you've been well. I hope you've been taking care of yourself in navigating these times. I hope you have been centering your joy and your peace. I hope you've been connecting with community. I hope that, as much as you're pouring out and into others, you are refilling your own cup in the process. I hope that you are calling in aligned connections. I hope that you're continuing to take inspired and aligned action to meet your goals. I hope that you're resting and taking it easy whenever and wherever possible. I hope that you're happy. I hope that you're well. I hope that you're taken care of. I hope that your loved ones are taken care of and I hope that everything is on the up and up for you. Thank you for tuning into this episode and coming to spend some time with me. I've been well On the consulting front. I'll be wrapping up a couple of project management and communication contracts between this month and over the summer and looking to what's next.

Aliya Cheyanne: 2:48

At home, I feel like there has just been a lot going on over the last year, year and a half, but I've moved, and not to a new place or a new city or a new state a new place or a new city or a new state. I live in a generational home with family and recently I swapped apartments and I have a bit more space and a lot more light, which makes me happy. It's a lot more to clean Still very much in the throes of things right now getting everything situated and organized, making some upgrades to the space to really make it my own and get it to a place that I'm comfortable with. So I have been in the throes of that and I will be in the throes of that for a little while longer, but I'm really looking forward to feeling really settled and comfortable and just getting the space to a place that makes me feel happy and comfortable and relaxed. Living in a generational home. This is a house that my grandparents built in the 70s and it's a property that they've always had among other properties they've always had among other properties. I've lived here for most of my life, outside of small stints living in states like Florida and Arkansas and in other counties in New York, but for the most part, this house has always been home In swapping apartments.

Aliya Cheyanne: 4:23

I'm now back in the unit that I was in when I was really little. What is now a spare bedroom was my childhood bedroom. So in some ways it's a fresh start, but in a lot of ways it's not. It's familiar, it's home. It's where I've had a lot of memories growing up. It's where I've been for most of my life, especially in my adult years.

Aliya Cheyanne: 4:51

So I'm grateful and overwhelmed at the same time and just trying to get everything in order and to a place that feels good. For the most part, I am one of those people where my environment is a direct reflection of my mental state and my mental health. It's very hard for me to operate in chaos, disorder, dysfunction, if things are out of place and out of whack at home. So it's been an interesting several weeks and, to be honest, this process has been long. So it's been an interesting several months going through the throes of this very long drawn out transition and I'm just really looking forward to getting back to a place where everything is set up, organized, cleaned and comfortable for me. So that's that. That being said, for folks who watch full guest interviews or any full solo episodes on YouTube, you may notice in some upcoming episodes that my usual setup is different. It's changed. It's not the same. That is because I am in a transitional period and at some point there will be a new setup or a similar setup to before, something that just feels aligned and appropriate. So something to note Outside of that y'all like, all I'm really focused on right now is having fun and being outside.

Aliya Cheyanne: 6:23

Like it's springtime, summer is on the way, right around the corner, and I just I am blooming and growing and stretching and I just want to be in the sun. I want to have a good time. I want to do fun activities with friends. I want to be outside and just enjoy myself. I really haven't felt this way about summer in a really long time. I think the pandemic and the last several years just stole that energy and that desire for me, and this is the first time in a while where I'm like I'm in NYC, I live here, I want a fun New York summer. I want to do some of the activities that really lit me up in the past, because a lot of them still light me up, some of those fun outdoor activities that only come around in the summertime. I want to enjoy those things and I want to do those things and I want to be outside so that, and while I'm still holding space for all of the crazy things happening in the world around me and around us, I still want to continue to feel alive, I want to continue to bloom and fall off the hardness that I've built up in response to the world in a lot of ways and I just want to be and I just want to exist this summer. I'm interested in events, museums, activities, picnics, hiking, glamping all of the things that help me to feel whole and myself and well. So I'm looking forward to that and in a lot of ways I've mentioned on the podcast before that I am writing a book and it is about my single season, because my single season has been very long and I actually referenced an older episode of the podcast recently and I was kind of shook to look that far back and realize that I had been talking about working on a project, about my single season.

Aliya Cheyanne: 8:25

Then too. At that time it looked totally different. It was not a book, it was something else. That project has just morphed into a book, and in writing it it's opened up my heart and healed me in ways that I didn't expect. It's brought some feelings and some thought to the surface that I honestly had buried and just not thought about, and writing has been really therapeutic in that way. And as much as I'm creating this project for others who might be aligned with it, I'm also creating it for myself, and I've come to some really deep realizations throughout the process. And it's like I said, it's opened for activities and fun with friends. I'm also trying to be on the sidewalk, not necessarily in the streets. In that sense too, on that front, I'm just open. I'm open to new connections and I'm excited about that.

Aliya Cheyanne: 9:32

I think in terms of friendships too, establishing new friendships in this season of my life has really, really really opened my heart up and let a lot of sweetness and softness into my life in ways that I just didn't expect, and that's been beautiful, getting to build new connections and relationships that meet me where I'm at now, and even in doing that, it's taught me how to cultivate and nurture existing relationships too. It's refreshed me in a lot of ways that are really important, and I'm so grateful for that. So this season of my life is very good. It's very blessed. I'm very blessed, I'm very grateful and I want to soak it in, I want to enjoy it, I want to get settled, I want to have fun, I want to feel alive again and that is what I'm focused on. What's next for me is I'm calling in more aligned opportunities, more career growth. Also more love in all capacities. I'm ready to grow in relationship with someone else, not just myself, not just platonic friendship, but beyond that too. So being open in a way that I just really haven't. Spending time with friends, I'm getting dolled up for special occasions, I'm continuing to get my body to a place where I feel comfortable and confident and healthy and strong. I'm having fun, I'm making travel plans and I'm just living and enjoying life. Life is short. We're not here for a long time, but we should make damn sure that we're here for a good time. Now, here's what all this means for the podcast.

Aliya Cheyanne: 11:59

I have been doing so much reflecting about the show and I've decided that I'm taking a step back and taking the pressure off of myself to show up every week. 2024 was a transitional year in a lot of ways. I made a commitment to myself. Last year I saw it through. I had episodes for the most part going out every week for most of the year. It was just a really good year for the show. I had incredible conversations with incredible guests and I was just on it in a way that I was free to do because of the evolution of the show. I just felt free to do it and I still feel very free to do it and at the same time, I don't have the energy to do it the way that I had previously done it. So I am pivoting.

Aliya Cheyanne: 12:53

I've mentioned before that the frequency of the show might change. The original format of the show when it first started was on a bi-weekly basis and I feel like for right now, bi-weekly feels really really good. So the next several episodes that are coming out really incredible guest interviews will be coming out on a biweekly basis and that feels good for me for summer. It gives me the spaciousness to just enjoy my summer and to still create and to still have incredible conversations and to still connect with you, but it gives me a little bit more space and a lot less pressure. But it gives me a little bit more space and a lot less pressure. So, while I'm not pressuring myself to just go hard and go nonstop this year, I'm really excited for what's coming up on the show and I'm really excited about the conversations that we'll be having in the coming weeks.

Aliya Cheyanne: 13:47

And the good thing about a podcast is that it is always around, as long as the host does what they need to do to ensure that it is still around and still available. I'm really excited that this platform exists, so proud of the archive, I'm so proud of previous episodes, and it's always here and binge-worthy. If you're new to the show and you would love to visit past episodes that call out to you, do that. It's always here. I feel like one of the things I love about this iteration of the show is that I really focus on evergreen content and conversations. The solo episodes that I do, the conversations that I have with incredible featured guests, are timely. They're always on time, they're always relevant, especially when it comes to creativity, to purpose, to alignment. They're always available. So check out some episodes you may not have listened to before. You might hear something that feels right, on time for this season of your life. As always, the best way to know when new episodes are coming is to make sure you're following the show on your favorite podcast platform, wherever you're listening right now, and, of course, on social media for any and all updates In this season of the show.

Aliya Cheyanne: 15:11

I'm also learning to be comfortable with imperfection and not critiquing myself so damn hard. I recently got advice from a much bigger and more seasoned podcaster than me. Shout out to Ashley Leggs, who hosts the Slay Girl Slay podcast, and she encouraged me to let my episodes breathe and that doing the interview and editing the episode is enough. I don't have to listen again and again and be so hellbent on constantly improving, and that advice took a weight off of my chest. You know this podcast is currently listed in particular categories For you as a listener.

Aliya Cheyanne: 15:51

You may look at the podcast platform that you're listening to this episode on right now and when you go to the show, you'll see certain categories that this show falls in and right now across you know Apple, spotify and other podcast platforms. The show is currently listed in like the education category with like the self-improvement or self-help subcategory under that. Some podcast platforms allow you to list more than one category, so sometimes you'll see other ones show up. So, depending on what app you're listening on right now. You might also see society and culture slash personal journals, or you might also see business slash entrepreneurship.

Aliya Cheyanne: 16:38

It just depends on where you're listening right now, and I've been experimenting with these and other categories since around March 2024 to help the show reach its target audience, which, if you didn't know, is definitely Black women, femmes and other women and femmes of color who are new or seasoned in their creativity and seeking a like community. It's open to everybody. Everybody can listen. But as a Black woman who loves to uplift the voices and stories and experiences and brilliance of other Black women, who loves to be in conversation with wise, worldly, spiritual women, this podcast is for me and it's for us spiritual women. This podcast is for me and it's for us. So I've been experimenting with those categories to help the show to reach its target audience and results vary.

Aliya Cheyanne: 17:33

The reality is that shows grow best by word of mouth and also from me being a guest on other shows with similar audiences. So I know that my community, the people who are meant to hear the show, will find the show. Those of you who are already here, who tune in every week or bi-weekly or when new episodes drop, who share the episodes with your friends, your tribes, your circles. I'm so grateful for you and I'm so thankful for you. I could not do this show without you, without your support. I know that my people will continue to find me and I feel assured in that and confident in that and hopeful in that, and I'm really excited about and looking forward to getting to know my community more with this show. So, you listening right now, I'm so excited to learn more about you and why you tune into the show each week.

Aliya Cheyanne: 18:28

So if you would like a deeper connection with me in the way that I would love a deeper connection with you, you can always leave a review for the show. You can always send a text message to the show and just let me know what you're thinking. You can also send a voice note. If you'd like to talk back to me. I would love to hear from you. I would love to play your voice note on a future episode as well, and all of the links to do all of those things are always in the show notes. They are always in the episode description so you can do that at any time If there's ever an episode that resonates with you, that speaks to you, if there's ever a guest that really touches your heart.

Aliya Cheyanne: 19:08

Please let me know that feedback matters to me first and foremost, and also reviews help me tremendously in the podcasting world. They help others to discover the show as well. It helps to have feedback from listeners who love the show, who share their thoughts, because reviews can either help or deter a new listener from checking the show out. So please, please, please, take a moment out of your day, take a second out of your time to please rate and review the show on the podcast platform that you're listening to it on right now. It goes a long way and I would really, really, really appreciate it. So thank you in advance.

Aliya Cheyanne: 19:55

And, on that note, if there's someone you know that needs to hear this show, please tell them. Don't gatekeep, we don't do that around here. Let them know about the show, and if there's a show you'd like to hear me on as a guest, let me know, send a text to the show, send in a voice note, leave a review and also let the host of that show know. Thank you in advance for your support. Friend, I appreciate you All. Right, that's all I've got for today.

Aliya Cheyanne: 20:25

So, as a friendly reminder, new episodes will be dropping, but they'll be coming out biweekly for the next several weeks, so stay tuned, make sure that you're following the show so that you know when new episodes drop, and I'm so excited to chat with you again soon. And if you're missing the show on the off weeks, definitely revisit the catalog and check out some episodes you might not have heard before. Be sure to drop a comment on your favorite episodes on YouTube and Spotify. Please, please, please, help me out by writing a review if you're listening to the show on Apple Podcasts or any of your favorite podcast platforms, and be sure to share the show and your favorite episodes with your tribe. Thank you for lending me your time, your energy and your ears, and we'll talk again very soon. Bye, friend. Catch you on the next episode.